The house is great!
I’m really enjoying home ownership thus far. Of course, it’s only been a month, but thus far it seems like all the convenience of apartment living combined with all the privileges of a single-family home. I still don’t need to worry about trash pickup and mowing the lawn (well, as long as I remember to put the can out on the curb on the designated day), but I also never have to worry about getting a hot shower at 10am, or hoarding quarters for the laundry, or having to wait to do laundry either. The place actually isn’t that difficult to clean, either, though it helps that half the house doesn’t have furniture in it yet. The utilities are also dirt-cheap: I paid $87 for my first power/gas bill, my phone bill will be about $50 a month, and my 2010 property tax estimate was $500 less than I had budgeted for. So I’m essentially paying about $400 more per month for about 2.5x the space and a lot more amenities besides (not to mention the equity and tax benefits).
Other than that, work has been quite busy, as one might expect just before the onslaught of Black Friday and the upcoming holiday season. Working, working out, playing the Sims, cleaning, watching the cats chase each other around, that’s the sum of my life. Casey’s about a third of the cat he used to be--he’s about 7 lbs and a little frail, but still finds time to snuggle (which he seeks out less often now that he gets more attention from Moocher than he really wants) and his appetite is hanging in there. Moocher, on the other hand, is getting a little chubby, so I’m going to have to get him to run around a little more.